Cleveland cosmic guitarist Mark McGuire follows his heart on two new records
Mark McGuire is surely not the first person to invoke Bob Dylan in an interview with MAGNET, but he’s probably the only one who has been guided by the bard of Hibbing, Minn., to make music that synthesizes the highway lyricism of krautrock, the loop-upon-loop immersion of Fripp and Eno, the cosmic optimism of new-age music and the gleaming surfaces of voice-filtered R&B.
“Bob Dylan was a hugely inspiring artist to me and always has been because he always just did what he wanted to do,” says McGuire. “He did what was in his heart. People might want to hear ambient solo guitar music every time, but I might come out and play a synth, guitar or an almost techno-sounding song. I don’t think anyone should limit what they do to anything.”
McGuire first recorded with electronic trio Emeralds, which he joined in his late teens and stayed with until the end of 2012. While he was with that band, he began releasing solo music at a torrid rate, issuing dozens of tapes, CD-Rs and LPs that culminated in a pair of sonically ambitious albums for the Dead Oceans label.
In the meantime, he moved repeatedly around the U.S. before landing back where he started: Cleveland. There, he has made a pair of new albums. Ideas Of Beginnings (VDSQ) is a stripped-back collection of pensive acoustic miniatures and immersive electric reveries. Vision Upon Purpose (Amethyst Sunset), on the other hand, surrounds delay-drenched guitar leads with layers of synths and programmed beats. But they are united in their expression of states of spiritual and familial yearning.
“I identify with having sounds that are specifically tied to emotional or mental memories,” says McGuire. “The idea of recording music to me is to take sounds that are in your heart and get them out to the world.”
—Bill Meyer
